Forever
by TanisaFyre
Summary: Irvine finally brings up the guts to pop the question to Selphie. Very cute! Please R
1. Marry me, Darlin'?

The sun drifted down, melting into the edge of the world

"I love you, Selphie.You make me so happy, and I want to be with you for the rest of my life.Will you be my wife?No, that sounds dumb!Uh…I would really like it if…no…would you marry me?Better."Irvine stood in front of the mirror rehearsing. His stomach was tied in knots so much that he felt like they'd never go away.He lifted up him hand and examined the tiny ring in his palm.A medium sized diamond in the middle, with two emeralds at the sides.He liked it because the emeralds were the same color as Sephie's eyes.He smiled, and his stomach muscles loosened a bit. 

_Knock Knock _Knock

"Selphie!" he gasped, then his stomach tightened once more.He quickly jumped to his feet and ran to the door.Irvine took a deep breathe then opened it."Squall!What the hell do you want?"

Squall's eyes widened innocently, "Hey, what did I do?"

"Sorry, I'm just a little tense tonight.So, what do you want?"Irvine started to tap his foot impatiently.

"Well, uh, I was wondering if you had seen Rinoa since lunch.I can't seem to find her."

"Look, I really don't know.I'd help you find her, but I've got a lot of things on my mind and I've got a lots of things to do.Sorry."Before Squall could reply, Irvine already had the door shut.He was too nervous to think about anything else.

_Knock Knock Knock_Irvine rolled his eyes and opened that door."Look, Squall, I told you-"Irvine's eyes went wide.Selphie just stood there, with a very confused look on her face. 

"Oh, Selphie.It's you!"

"Are you alright, Irvy?"

"Yeah, yeah.Fine.Uh, come on in."Irvine quickly tucked the ring in his back pocket.

Selphie walked in, and turned back to Irvine."So, what do you wanna do tonight?" she asked in her sweet girlie tone.

"Uh, achually, I thought we could stay here tonight."he said, trying to sound as calm as possible.

"Awe, I really wanted to see that new movie that's out!"She puffed out her lip in protest, that made Irvine nearly give in to her request.

"I know you did, Butterfly, but, um, I thought you might want to stay in and watch the sun set with me."His voice was hopeful.

Selphie smiled, Irvine was in a romantic mood, and she might as well take advantage of it."Ok, Irvy.We can go see the movie tomorrow night."

Irvine sighed and looked out the window, "I guess we better get out there."

Selphie looked at the window, then walked out onto the balcony.Irvine walked behind her, becoming more nervous then he had ever been.He took Sephie around the waist and looked out to sea.

The sun drifted down, melting into the edge of the world.The colors of the setting sky wavered and shimmered on the reflection in the water.Irvine sighed and rested his chin on Selphie's head.Inhaling softly, smelling the Chocolate scnet of her hair.Irvine was in his dark leather pants, with his hair pulled back.

"Isn't it beautiful, Irvy?" Selphie sighed gazing out at the water.She was wearing her everyday yellow jumper and boots. 

"Sure is………" Irvine agreed, pulling his butterfly closer to him.

His heart was pounding hard; he begged Hyne she wouldn't notice.He had never been so nervous in his entire life.Irvine had planned this night for weeks, rehersing over and over again in front of the mirror.

The sun slowly sank into the water; it's colorful rays trailing.Selphie sighed and turned to her cowboy.She stared deeply into those sapphire-blue eyes.She stood up on her toes to give him a delicate kiss.Then pulled away and smiled at him.Irvine tried to hide his nerves by pulling off one of his trademark smirks.

"Tell me, Irvy," she said, pulling him by his hand, back into the room."What's wrong with you tonight?You seem tense or something."She gave him a concerned look and sat down on the bed.Obviously trying to stay cool wasn't working for Irvine, she could see right through it.

"W-Why do you say that?" he stuttered.*great, Irvine, just make a complete fool out of yourself!*

Selphie giggled, she could tell he was scolding himself for something.

Irvine stood in front of her, looking down at his Selphie.He loved her so much.His little fairy he was afraid to be without.He put his hand in the back pocket of his leather pants and felt the tiny diamond ring he would introduce to Selphie in a matter of minutesHe coughed nervously.

"You know I love you, right?"he asked her, fumbling on every word.

"Of course, Irvy, I love you too."She smiled at him, stood up, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

This is it, this was the part he had been practicing for days, but one gaze into those bright green eyes made him forget every word.

"Ah…well," he searched his mind for the right words to say."I need to ask you something, Butterfly," he said quietly, his eyes fixed on hers.

"Ok…shoot," she chirped in her merry voice he loved.

"Well, uh," he started, "why don't you sit down?"

She shrugged and gently sat down on the bed, crossed her legs, and rested on her elbows behind her.

Irvine began to pace back and forth."Look, Sefie," he tried, "we've been together for about 2 years now-"

"2 years, 3 months, and 17 days," she corrected him, followed by another giggle.

"And they've been great!Butterfly,I-I've gotten to the point when I can't picture my life," he paused, "w-without you."

Selphie smiled at him.She loved him too, more then he would ever know.

"And well, um," Irvine slowly kneeled down in front of her.*This is it, stay cool, Irvine* His heart beated faster and faster.A drop of sweat ran down his face, as her pulled out the ring and hid it in his palm.He looked up, and starred at her face."Damn," he said, as if in a trance.

Selphie giggled, "What?"

"Nothin', I just can't get over how lucky I am to have a gal like you."

She grinned and leaned forward to kiss him.Just then, the dorm room door swung open and Zell popped in the room, panting.

"Hey guys…hot dogs…in the…Cafeteria!" he grinned and rushed down the hall.

Irvine rolled his eyes, and stood up to shut the door."Gee thanks, Zell," he muttered under his breathe.Irvine turned back to Selphie, she still sat there, smiling at him.He walked over, and kneeled, once again, in front of her.He started to sweat again and gripped his fingers around the ring.He gulped.

"Selphie, will…will-"

_Knock Knock Knock_"Irvine?Irvine, are you in there?"It was Quistis.

Irvine groaned*out of all days, why today for everyone to come and see me!* "Yeah, just a sec."He turned to Selphie, "Don't move, ok?"She nodded in response, also getting a little tired of the constant interruptions.

Irvine opened the door.Quistis smiled at him, then took one look at the shirtless Irvine, then at Selphie sitting behind him on the bed.

"Oh, um…I'm sorry to, uh, interrupt, but uh…Siefer was looking for you Irvine.He wanted to know if you could come down to the Training Center."She looked at Selphie, and then back to Irvine, "I'll just tell him you're busy."

"Thanks, I'd appreciate that," he said with a sigh of relief.With that, Quistis left the room.He didn't care what she thought they were doing, just as long as she left them alone.Irvine, once again, shut the door, swearing to himself, and turned back to Selphie.*Do it quick before anyone else interrupts!*

He shifted the ring in his hand so it was pinched between his thumb and finger.Irvine knelt down in front of Selphie one last time.

"Selphie," he gulped, "I love you butterfly.I want to be with you forever."He held out the ring with a shaky hand, "W-Will you marry me, Darlin'?"

Selphie's eyes widened as she looked at the ring.Irvine was shaking so much, she couldn't make out how many stones were in it.Her eyes, then, went immediately to Irvine with her mouth slightly open in awe.

"Hee!" she squealed with pure happiness and jumped into his arms.She planted a long passionate kiss on his lips.

Irvine's heart soared; he went from shaking and mumbling, to utter joy.He then, regretfully, pulled away from their kiss and looked into her eyes.

"Awe, man!Does this mean 'no'?" he teased her.

Selphie rolled her eyes and kissed him again, then looked back into his eyes.Awkwardly, she was looking _down_ at him.She had accidentally jumped onto the bed in all the excitement.

"You better mean what you just asked me, Irvine Kinneas, cause from now on, you're stuck with me, forever?"

He gazed into her eyes, still grinning, "I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Forever?"

"Forever."


	2. You can't be serious!

"I don't think so

"I don't think so...," Selphie's voice came from behind the velvet curtain.

"Awe, c'mon," Rinoa begged.

"Yeah, just let us see it!"Quistis agreed.

Selphie groaned, pushed aside the purple curtain, and waddled out of the dressing room.Her head was facing the floor as her friends observed the horror she was dressed in.Selphie was in, what looked like, a silk, straight jacket.It was buttoned in the front all the way up to her chin.The sleeves were wrapped so tightly around her arms that she could barely move them, and the skirt had ruffles exploding three feet behind her.

Quistis put her hand to her mouth to cover her smile, but Rinoa made no such effort to cover the humor of the dress by laughing allowed and slapping her knee.Quistis elbowed her in the ribs, only causing her to fall to the floor laughing even harder.

Selphie sighed."I know it's a dumb looking dress, but you don't have to be insulting!" she protested, turning around and walking back into the dressing room.

After Rinoa had regained her composure, she sat down in a nearby chair."Try on the one I picked out for you!" she hollered to Selphie.

"That was the one you picked out for me!"

"Oh."Rinoa paused and bit her lip.Then looked over to Quistis, "It looked better on the hanger," she said in her defense.Quistis just rolled her eyes."

"Hey," Selphie yelled from behind the curtain, "I wonder how Irvy's doing."

***

"You can't be serious!" Irvine whined as her looked at the bright orange tux Zell talked him into trying on.

"You look great!"Zell cheered.

"He looks like a highlighter, Zell."

"Yeah, but great looking highlighter!" Zell said with a grin.

Squall shook his head while Irvine immediately turned away from the mirror and took the jacket off."I'd rather look like a penguin then a Popsicle!" he muttered."I think I'll just stick with black," Irvine told the others.

"Tch-, fine then," Zell said, taking it offensively.

Squall turned and looked toward the manikin in the window, "How 'bout that one?"

Irvine shrugged, "Might as well see how it looks."

***

After trying on nearly every gown in the store, Selphie's voice came from behind the drapes, "I think this is the one."

"Well, lets see it!" Rinoa pleaded eagerly.

Selphie slowly emerged from the dressing room with her face beaming.

Quistis gasped, "You look gorgeous!"

"Beautiful!" Rinoa nodded.

Selphie smiled as she looked down at the strapless dress.It had small white pearls sewn in at the top that scattered down to the waist.The silk skirt draped down in front of her just skimming the floor with a small train trailing behind her."Ooh, wait 'till you see the back!"She twisted around causing the short train to wrap around her ankles.In the back of the dress, a bouquet of light pink and cream silk roses dangled from her lower back, down the rest of the gown.Selphie looked over her shoulder at her awed friends, "Whada ya think?"

"All either of them could do was grin and nod.

***

"Hey, lookin' good!"

"Not bad, Cowboy."

Irvine smirked as he pranced across the room.He slid the jacket off and threw the end over his shoulder in a runway model fashion.He had a white clean shirt underneath with the top unbuttoned.His hair was pulled back in his usual leather strap, and, of course, his gloves were still on.Suddenly, Irvine broke his smooth attitude by turning back to his friends with a puzzled look on his face. "Alright, something's missing…"

Squall flung his arms out to the sides."What could possibly be missing?We've been here for hours!You've got the right shirt, you've got the right pants, you've finally found the right jacket, and you're wearing the "perfect black boots"!What else could you possibly need?"

Irvine looked around the store.Suddenly, something in the back of the room caught his eyes.He smiled and walked toward a black cowboy hat sitting on the shelf.He picked it up and slipped it onto his head.Irvine turned back to Squall with his hand still to his head."A hat," he said with a sigh of relief as he pulled the brim down to shade his eyes so all you could see was his smile.

***

Ten minutes later the group all met in the parking lot.Selphie nearly dropped the opaque garment bag containing her dress on the ground when she rushed toward Irvine."Hey, Irvy," she smiled and kissed him lightly."Ooh," Selphie said as she saw the garment bag similar to hers hanging over his shoulder."Let me see your tux!"She reached for the bag.

"Eh eh eh," Irvine pulled away, "not yet.I've got to wait to see your dress, don't I?"

Selphie puffed her lip out in protest. "I guess so…"

Irvine smiled, put his arm around her tiny waist, and started walking back to the car.

"Hey guys," Selphie shouted over her shoulder, "Have you finished your speeches yet?"

The group looked at each other with a puzzled look, then back at Selphie.

"What speeches?" Quistis asked.

Selphie's eyes widened and looked to Irvine."I thought you told them!"

"I thought you told them!" Irvy said innocently.

Selphie groaned and looked back to her friends."We wanted you all to say a small speech at the reception.Ya know, something short and sweet."

"Oh, sure…Yeah, no prob…This'll be fun," they all agreed.All but Squall.He was not nearly as eager as his friends to get up in front of everyone and…He was making himself sweat just thinking about it.*A speech?They can be serious!*


	3. Progress

A/N::  I'M SORRY!  I know it's been AGES since I last updated it, but my muse decided to come back from Bermuda and I thought I'd put it to good use while it was with me.  SO!  Without further adu!

_            Selphie and Irvine, I'm glad you guys got married and_

            That was as far as Squall had gotten after two hours of sitting in his dorm room.  A speech.  As in, in speaking in front of people.  Possibly the entire Garden…  His stomach did quadruple back flips just thinking about it.  This was not going to be fun…

***

            "One, two, three.  One, two, -ow!  Ok, uh…  one, two, three.  One- yowch!"

            Selphie grabbed her foot in pain.  She stood there in the middle of the quad, Irvy in front of her, who was making an effort to learn how to dance.  

            "Sorry.  Look, Butterfly, I'm no good at this!"

            "No!  Irvy, I'm fine. Really.  And you don't want to skip our first dance as a married couple, do you?"  Selphie protested batting her eyes and masking her face in a pouty expression.  "Now you almost had it that last time.  Just one more try.  Please?"

            Irvine sighed and looked down at his fiancé.  He couldn't say no to the pouty face.  She, knowing this, used it as often as possible.  "I suppose."  With that, he put his hand back at her waist and began counting in his head…

***

            And Zell sat in the cafeteria…  eating hot dogs.  

***

            _Selphie and Irvine, I'm glad you guys got married and I…_

            Yes!  Another word.  Squall was making progress!  The SeeD closed his eyes and lashed the desk with his head.  This wasn't supposed to be so hard!  It's just a little speech!  Wishing them the best!  …  Wishing them the best.  … Wishing you the best.  Squall's hand quickly scribbled down the flash of inspiration.

            _Selphie and Irvine, I'm glad you guys got married and I wish you the best!_

**Poetry!**

***

            And Zell sat in the cafeteria… eating hot dogs.

***

            "You're a natural!" Selphie squealed.  She had finally managed to get Irvy waltzing without breaking too many of her toes.

            "Couldn't have done it without ya, babe."  The cowboy replied kissing the top of her hair as they walked her to the cafeteria.  "I wonder where everyone else is…"

            "Well, Rinoa and Quistis finally managed to drag Seifer off to the Tux shop.  I have no idea where Squall is, and Zell-"

            "Ih wiet heaw!"  Zell shouted through the gobs of chewed hotdog in his mouth.  He waved from the back of the cafeteria, arms flailing.

            Irvine shock his head and walked over.  "Didn't your ma ever tell you not to speak with your mouth full?"

            Zell's eyebrows pushed together in confusion, "huh?"

            Selphie giggled and lightly patted Zell on the back.  "So, have you finished your speech?"

            Zell swallowed, but didn't reply until he had another chunk of hot dog between his teeth.  "Nah…  I thought I'd get up there and wing it.  I mean, it can't be that hard.  Just tell you guys how happy I am for ya…  right?"  He questioned, savagely ripping another portion off of the frank in his hand.  "Gow, I wuv fees fings!"

            "Yo, Zell!  Slow down, man."

            "Nevaw!"

***

            _Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap_

            Squall cradled his head in his hand and tapped his pen on the table.  The table under the abuse of the pen began to wear when it was finally saved by a quiet knock at the door.  Squall pulled himself out of the chair and hurried over to the door.

            "Hey!"  Rinoa greeted him, inviting her self in.  "Haven't seen you all day.  Whatcha been up to?"  She pondered wondering over to the desk.

            "Oh, uh.  This and that…"  Squall bit down on his lip as his girlfriend picked up the piece of paper that he had been working on all day.

            "Been writing your speech, have you?"

            "Uh, maybe."

            Rinoa smiled, " 'Selphie and Irvine.  I'm glad you guys got married and I wish you the best.'  I would have guessed you've just started; however…  the condition of this piece of paper proves otherwise…" she joked, casting a sideways glance at Squall.

            Squall made a grab for the script, "Yeah, well.  Some things come easier to others.  Ugh…  I can't believe they're making me do this."

            "Awe…"  Rinoa cooed, walking over to Squall and wrapping her arms around him, "Is someone have a case a stage fright?"

            "Whatever."

            The brunette sighed, "You can direct an entire garden through a major crisis and lead a group of seven in a fight against the most powerful sorceress of all time, and you don't think you can manage a little toast for our friends?"

            "…Whatever."

            Rinoa scoffed, "I'm sure it's come to you.  Your muse must be taking a vacation or something.  Why don't you come down the cafeteria and get your mind off of it.  Everyone's down there anyway.  We were gonna go out together, 'member?"

            Squall nodded and threw a gaze at the wrinkled piece of paper Rinoa had placed back on the desk, "Yeah.  I guess."

***


End file.
